David-Dungan-Obituary

David Laird Dungan

Knoxville, Tennessee

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Knoxville, Tennessee

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DUNGAN, DAVID LAIRD - 72, died of a stroke on Sunday, November 30, 2008. He was a professor emeritus of the Religious Studies Department at the University of Tennessee in Knoxville where he taught for 38 years until retirement in 2002. He leaves behind his loving wife of 49 years, Anne; and...

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David taught me (in his Images of Jesus class, '90-91) what it meant to do real inquiry, even as an undergraduate. He carried us up to the same precipice he stood on, to look out over the same bewildering array of interpretations he was dealing with, to listen to the same cacophony of historical voices, and in the end, to articulate and lay claim to our own ideas about it all, as he was working to do for himself. He never told us what to think; he only made it impossible for us not to...

David Dungan was a friend, mentor, hero, role-model, croquet partner, and pastor. I miss him terribly.

To The Dungan Family: Know that all my thoughts and prayers go with you at this time. I will miss David very much. He was one of the best professors I ever had, and he paid me the ultimate compliment that a professor can pay a student; he pushed me to always be a better scholar than even I thought I could ever be.

David was my teacher in the late 1980s and early 1990s. He taught me so much about what it meant to be a student, a scholar and a person. His profound influence on his students lives on around the world in his lessons and memory. My deepest sympathy to the family.

Dave was a very special person, a gifted story teller and teacher. We will miss him so much in our church and social gatherings. Thoughts and prayers for his family....

David was my Western Religions teacher in the 60's-70's - a man whose intellect and depth of observation I deeply respected. That was a very special time both on campus and in the Religious Studies Department, and in my life as well.

David's friendly demeanor and his insightful scholarship will be greatly missed. I am so glad to have participated in his Festschrift and to honor David in Boston in November. May he rest in peace and rise with the saints.

May God bless you and your family in this time of sorrow. I have known David Dungan since 1989 when I was studying under William R. Farmer at Southern Methodist Universtiy. Since then, I worked closely with David on the Synoptic Problem. David was the external examiner for my doctoral dessertation which is now published as The Synoptic Gospels and the Psalms as Prophecy. I was with him in April 2008 in Oxford, England, attending The Oxford Conference on the Synoptic Problem. Recently I was...